Roughly a month before its official launch on the Nintendo Switch, Super Chariot has received a demo on the system. This free download includes three full levels, playable solo or in co-op using separate Joy-Con.
My first experience with the demo was a weird one. What I can only assume is a Switch-wide bug caused slowdown and scripting bugs until I fully restarted the system. After that was solved, everything was silky-smooth and surprisingly sharp. Super Chariot’s art style is colourful and lively, menus animated nicely, and the overall production value is great-it’s even got some entertaining and quality voice acting.
There are two main interactions in Super Chariot-pushing the coffin and pulling it with a rope. Different situations might require you to use the coffin as a platform to reach a higher area or use the rope to drag it up from a precipice. Rather than complicating the game with lots of mechanics or button presses, Super Chariot relies more on its physics system to create environmental puzzles.
Separation from the coffin is a given, and there’s a timer to stop you from wandering off without it that plays into the puzzles too. Send it rolling down a hill and you run the risk of timing out, and it will occasionally get stuck partway through a puzzle if you flop the execution of a jump or swing.
I hesitate to refer to Super Chariot as a Metroidvania, but it’s easy to make comparisons when looking at the map layout and how collectibles are hidden. This is a game that wants you to explore and really push its mechanics. You can also return to prior levels to grab missed items or farm currency, but the demo doesn’t include a way to make use of any of those just yet.
So far, Super Chariot has been an instantly-charming and challenging puzzle-platformer. The level design, visual style, voice acting, and physics make for a really enjoyable game. Definitely one to keep an eye on when it launches on Switch next month!
